Before you get started in your journey with us, I want to tell you about the basis of our site and our communities.

Our top priority is to promote a supportive relationship between community members, regardless of differences in opinion or personality. We want to promote peer support!

Peer support is a mutual exchange of help and conversation based on “shared understanding, respect and mutual empowerment between people in similar situations” (http://www.peerzone.info/sites/default/files/resource_materials/Peer%20Support%20A%20Theoretical%20Perspective%20Mead.pdf).

Unless an administrator is a healthcare professional, HealthUnlocked does not offer specialist expertise and does not replace the relationship between you and your doctor.

The discussions within our communities are members sharing and exploring their different perspectives and solutions with each other.

Peer support should not be directive e.g.“This will work for you because it worked for me”. Instead, we ask members to encourage each other to seek their own solutions and make sure the community feels supported along the way.

Members should strive to create a safe atmosphere for their peers, and show consideration for what might make others feel unsafe. This means being tolerant of conflicting views, avoiding judgment and accepting that no one member is “right” and has “all the answers”.

At it’s best, peer support should involve giving each other hope and the motivation to take up valued opportunities. We hope that all of you will really get involved and feel the amazing benefits that can come from it.

My name is Shaena, I'm 32 years old and was recently diagnosed with MS. I've thought that I had this disease for quite some time but was too afraid to see a doctor to confirm it. My mother had MS, she passed away as a result of complications in March of 2010. I try not to think of my mom's MS as my own because I understand that all cases are different but I'm finding it a little difficult at times to separate the two. I just would like to build a relationship with others because I have no one who understands what I'm going through or have gone through as a result of this disease.